


To Hell and Back

by Dmnq8



Series: Love Is Blind [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Detectives, Different identities, Kuwait, M/M, Middle East, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-11
Updated: 2010-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:10:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2103888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dmnq8/pseuds/Dmnq8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How far would he go to apologize? And since he was contemplating going to the other side of the globe to do just that, could his intentions really be summed up with such a benign word?</p>
<p>SasuNaru</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sprite spoke. "We'd like a word with you, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't even get a chance to answer. The dyke only waited until the sprite was done speaking before she plowed a fist like a battering ram into his gut and had him doubling over. He brought his own fist up, rearing backward to take aim, but the dyke had by then muscled him back into his apartment. He went down with her on top of him, feeling her rock-like blows and hearing someone lock his door. He heard a shotgun cocked and thought, _Fucking hell, what the Christ is this shit?_

He really didn't have time for more as he got an arm up finally and blocked that fist. He grabbed hold of the bitch, flipped her, and crashed his own fist into her face, which brought the cold feel of the shotgun he'd heard to bear on the back of his head. A smooth, emotionless voice said, "I've got the trigger depressed. All it needs is another ounce."

No threat was made, no 'leave her alone or else.' Just that statement. Sasuke halted his fist with it still a foot from the dyke's face before he could deliver another punch. The muzzle of that shotgun stayed on his head as the dyke scooted on her back, moving away from him. When she'd regained her feet, she turned and kicked Sasuke's teeth in. Figuratively. He blacked out for the space of a few seconds, and came to on his own back, with the sprite shouting down into his face about his horrible treatment of her friend.

The dyke was punctuating the sprite's furious words with more blows. The shotgun was held by the spook, trained on him, so he didn't defend himself. The punches were hard, well-aimed, but not debilitating. He would bide his time, but by the Mother he'd get a piece of that _bruja._

In the meantime.

What friend was the sprite still screaming about? He could barely make sense of her tearful, shrieking tirade. She even landed a few punches herself. They were light things that he barely felt, though she clearly put all her strength behind them.

At last the sprite and the dyke were done. The sprite wiped her face, then reached into her purse. She withdrew an envelope and threw it down on Sasuke's face. "Stay away from him," she sniffed angrily. "Or you'll regret it."

The trio backed away and watched Sasuke get slowly to his feet. The dyke looked pleased, sporting a small smile. The spook looked as bland as ever, but his shotgun didn't waver. The sprite cuddled against the dyke and blew into a Kleenex she withdrew from her purse.

"You're all under arrest for assaulting a police officer," Sasuke hissed. He located his gun half under his couch. "And this time I'll shoot the first person who moves."

The spook spoke. "That's not happening. You can try, but I promise you it won't work. And unless you want to end up homeless, with no identity and no money in your bank account, you'll accept that fact and go back to sleep. We did what we came to do. Have a nice day." The spook motioned for the sprite and the dyke to make for the door, which they did. The spook backed out last, holding that shotgun steady.

Sasuke went for his cell immediately, running into the hall to follow them. He stopped. His phone had no service, he saw. He ran back inside for his house line and found that dead too. By the time he got to the sidewalk, there was no sign of them. He saw that he still held the envelope that had been thrown at him and absently opened it on his way back to his apartment. He withdrew the money and stared down at it in confusion. Then he flipped the bills over and saw his handwriting. _Oh. That friend._

* * *

The next morning, his partner climbed into the vehicle when Sasuke went to pick him up, took one look at Sasuke's face, and burst out laughing. "Dude! What happened to you?"

 Sasuke put the car in park. "Get out."

Konohamaru tried to stop laughing. "No, okay, I'm sorry."

Sasuke unbuckled his belt, depressed his door handle. "I'm serious, get out."

Konohamaru stopped laughing for real. "Look, I said I was-"

"I need to use your computer. Mine's dead and I don't want to do the search at the department."

Konohamaru slowly got out of the car, turning to speak to Sasuke across the hood. "What search? And what's up with your computer, you forgot to pay your internet bill or something?"

Sasuke followed Konohamaru up the stairs to his apartment in the attractive brownstone he lived in. "No. I'm being targeted. I can't access my bank account, and my phones are dead, both cell and house lines."

"Targeted by who?" Konohamaru went directly to his laptop and opened it.

"By the people who did this," Sasuke gestured at his face. A bunch of colorful sword-wielding people popped up on the laptop screen.

The screensaver was of some stupid anime show Konohamaru was forever going on about. Soap, Sasuke thought it was called. No, that wasn't right. He thought for a moment, watching as Konohamaru pulled up his homepage. Bleach. That was the show he watched.

Sasuke sat at the computer and took a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. On it, he had written the sprite's name, phone number and the college she'd attended. All this was information he'd gotten from his neighbor's apartment, after he'd picked the lock. His neighbor's name was Naruto, he also learned. He began his search.

When he'd gathered as much info on Sakura as he could, he pulled the wallet he'd lifted from the dyke's pocket while she'd been on him, and looked at the contents.

Nara Ino. Membership at Jim's Gym. Employed by NYPL.

More than enough to get started, but he soon found that no information existed on that bitch. Sasuke tapped the laptop thoughtfully, thinking. Konohamaru slurped Gogurt noisily. He lived off the things until Sasuke only had to smell the stuff to feel nauseous. Sasuke stood up abruptly.

"We going in now?" Konohamaru asked.

"We have a personal day today. I cleared it."

"Word? Sweet. So…now what?"

"You go to this address and question Sakura. I'll take the dyke. From her I'll find out who the spook is."

"And then what?"

"I'll be arresting their asses."

"Won't you need proof they were even at your place last night or that they jacked up your shit?" Konohamaru asked once he'd heard the entire tale.

"Are you _loco_? What do you think we're interrogating these _putas_ for?"

Konohamaru ducked his head sheepishly. "Oh, right."

-oOo-

Both endeavors lead to dead ends. The address Sasuke had pulled up for Sakura turned out to be bogus and he was respectfully informed by the library manager that Ino hadn't shown up to work that day and would not be in for the next week. Sasuke asked to see her employee file. The manager wrung his hands, asking for a warrant. Sasuke left.

Apparently, whoever had tampered with his personal information had also tampered with Sakura's, Sasuke fumed. The spook had to be a talented hacker indeed.

He hit the gym next and was met at the door by a guard named Lance who said he'd never seen or heard of any Ino. Sasuke talked his way past him (using his fist) and made his inquiries inside. He was told the same thing by every hard-eyed thug in there. When he refused to leave, the patrons of the gym, including the owner, casually began closing ranks around the lone cop. Sasuke made a tactful retreat.

Home again, Sasuke slammed into his apartment and froze. His belongings looked the way they had when he'd left that morning, but he could tell: someone had been in his place.

A brief search revealed the apartment to be empty. He went through it again anyway, and came up with an envelope in his fridge, behind his carton of milk. Who the hell would hide an envelope in the frigging fridge?

The note read:

_Stop trying to find me and Ino. I know you have her wallet. Just give up and we'll give you your life back. Keep looking for us or trying to arrest us, and things will get worse for you. Of course, if you try to pursue this I will be more than willing to oblige you. I have nothing better to do…_

_Never_ , Sasuke seethed as he crushed the envelope in his hand. He didn't bother saving it to dust for prints. It would be clean.

* * *

Three days later he was forced to change his mind. His social security number was invalid, his savings gone, and his rent was due. Worse, his boss had called him into his office this morning to discuss something serious.

"Do you know a Hyuuga Neji?"

Sasuke blinked. "Yes. Why?"

"He's dead, that's why. He was found yesterday and your number is all over his phone."

"Captain, I-"

"There are some suggestive texts as well."

Sasuke shut his mouth. He knew exactly what texts there were on Neji's phone. He was surprised Neji had kept them, but dismayed at what they revealed about his sexuality. That was not common knowledge. At least it hadn't been.

"Coroner placed his TOD somewhere between one and two early Sunday morning. Where were you then?"

Sasuke tried to think coherently. Neji was dead? "Sir, is this our jurisdiction? Where was he found? I mean, doesn't he live in Jersey?"

"Why would you think that?"

"It's what he told me, sir."

"He lived in Queens. OD-ed on sleeping pills, but that's a preliminary conclusion, one made at the rushed request of his influential family. Your whereabouts between the hours of twelve and three am on the night in question, Uchiha."

Neji had lied to him about where he lived? Besides the point. Sasuke thought back. "Home. In bed."

"Alibi?"

"None, sir."

"I see. The homicide detective in charge will be by later to question you. Don't go anywhere."

"Yes, sir. Uh, sir?" The captain looked up at him, eyes flat. "Why am I a suspect?" Because the only reason a detective would drive down from Queens would be because he was a suspect. Which would only happen if the suicide appeared to be murder.

His captain sighed, looked toward his open office door at the noise of the bullpen, then lowered his voice. "You're a god cop, Uchiha. I like you. So this is just between us, got that?"

Sasuke nodded, feeling his stomach tighten in dread.

"There were some videos on his phone. Of you and him."

"Videos, sir?"

"Intimate videos." That flat stare, one every cop perfected before he was out of the academy. The one that said _Hey, I'm neutral, but I know your ass is guilty as hell._ His captain said no more, shuffling files on his desk in a clear dismissal.

* * *

How did videos make him a suspect in an apparent suicide? He considered telling his captain that he was under some kind of attack, that his identity, and probably soon his job, were being stolen from him. When the detective came later, he gave his statement, the truth, and was rewarded with another cop look.

Yamanaka Inoichi was older, harder, and probably ate steel for breakfast. His hair was in a long, blond, unconventional ponytail, his face lined and scarred. He was thin, but solid, and two inches taller than even Sasuke. He regarded everything with distrustful eyes that Sasuke felt were extremely familiar.

"He broke up with you Friday night?" Detective Yamanaka said. His partner was one Akimichi Choza, who jotted down Sasuke's words.

"That's correct," Sasuke answered. He refused to be intimidated by the man's direct turquoise eyes.

"How'd you feel about that?"

"Pretty shitty."

"Enough to kill him?"

"I didn't kill anyone."

"Were you aware that Neji recorded your activities?"

"No, I wasn't."

"Why do you think he did if, as you say, he'd only been using you?"

"Probably to blackmail someone."

Yamanaka and Akimichi exchanged a look that said plainly _Here it is, the One-Armed Man plea._ "And who might that someone be?" Yamanaka asked with a bored air.

"The boyfriend he said left him?" Sasuke ventured, out of patience. "Shouldn't you be finding out who that is? Or the woman he said he was marrying?"

Their silence told Sasuke that they had knowledge of these people, probably from Neji's phone. Interesting. They changed the line of questioning.

"You said he told you he lived out in Jersey. Did he give you an address?" Akimichi asked pleasantly. He was obviously supposed to be the Good Cop.

"No," Sasuke sighed.

"What did he say exactly?"

Sasuke thought back to that night in the bar when he'd met Neji. "I asked if he lived in The Village. He said his soul was in Jersey."

Yamanaka and Akimichi stood up. "We're done for now. Keep yourself available."

Sasuke stood as well, nodding that he would be reachable.

"One last thing," Akimichi said. He pulled a printout of a photo from his back pocket, unfolded it and showed it, his small eyes gauging Sasuke's reaction. "Ever seen this guy before?"

Sasuke studied the picture. It showed a cute red-haired male, probably late teens to early twenties, between a hundred and a hundred and ten pounds. Green eyes, Japanese tattoo over left eye, black eyeliner. He was reclining on white sheets and a white pillow, smiling winsomely for whoever was taking the picture. "Never seen him before," he said.

The picture was refolded and put away again. The detective and Officer Akimichi left.

* * *

At home, his phone rang. The caller ID showed the number as unlisted. His phone hadn't rung since his run-in with Sakura and crew. He answered on the third ring. "What."

"You can have your life back." The word _if_ was unspoken.

It was the spook.

Sasuke didn't answer, throwing his keys on his kitchen table and turning to lean his ass against the counter. He crossed his legs and folded one arm across his chest, thinking. "And all I'd have to do is stop looking for you and that dyke-"

The dyke. _Distrustful, turquoise eyes._ That's where he'd seen them.

"Yes. Just forget we were there. No lasting harm was done, and you did have it coming to you. Or so Sakura believes."

Sasuke abruptly remembered that he was a possible suspect in Neji's death. His mind took a small trip backward, remembering kisses they'd shared, words of love they'd exchanged, and how hurt he'd been at Neji's dismissal of him less than a week ago. And now the man was dead. He suddenly couldn't care less about finding the people who'd held him at gun point and roughed him up. "You know what? Fine. I give up. I got other shit to deal with. Just give me what you took from me and we'll call it even."

The line went dead. An hour later his cell service and internet were turned on again. A quick check online showed he was able to access his bank account.

-oOo-

The next day was his day off. Detective Yamanaka dropped by, sans Officer Akimichi, and questioned him some more. The toxicology report had come back, stating conclusively that Neji had overdosed on his sleeping pills. Sasuke received this information with a blank expression, hiding his relief. Detective Yamanaka, however, felt it incumbent that Sasuke see the videos. He pulled out a portable DVD player and slipped in a disc.

It was too embarrassing to see himself. He didn't remember Neji being that noisy. Sasuke turned his head away, going to his door to hold it open. Yamanaka got the hint and left.

Sasuke went to his room, dropped on his bed, and brooded.

He'd never truly known Neji. If he had, he would have known he was so unhappy, known he was being used by the man, and known he was suicidal. And if he hadn't known Neji, how could he have loved him so much? What had he really known about him to love him enough to be crushed by his leaving? What the hell had become of Sasuke to forget himself and who he was so completely?

His pride washed through him, smothering the rest of the hurt and insecurity his encounter with Neji had left behind. Then he gasped, his pride shriveling away as he remembered his neighbor.

Neji had used him because his boyfriend had left and he had turned right around and done the same fucking thing, hadn't he? _My_ _god,_ Sasuke marveled. _I'm just as bad as he is._

And with this realization, he finally understood what the sprite had been going on and on about.

True, he'd known there was some kind of weird attraction on his neighbor's part, but he hadn't known the guy was in love with him. The sprite had said a bunch of things about crushing Naruto's feelings. About treating him like a whore and taking advantage of Naruto's love for Sasuke…

Honestly, he'd thought nothing wrong with giving the guy some money. His neighbor had practically thrown himself at Sasuke. And he'd figured as long as the guy was offering…

But he hadn't been offering. He hadn't refused once Sasuke kissed him, but that might not have been what he was offering. Maybe he'd only been willing to provide comfort and understanding. Sasuke coming on to him like that must have made it seem like _Sasuke_ wanted _him._ And then the money…

_Aye, Dios, ayudame. What have I done?_ Sasuke thought. No one deserved that.

He got up and yanked his door open, going directly down the hall to Naruto's apartment. He banged on the door, intent on explaining himself and tendering his apologies.

No answer. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen his neighbor since he fucked him. Where was he?

Sasuke was considering picking the lock again, but as he turned to get the tools to do this from his place, he caught a flash of pink hair disappearing back down the stairwell.

He ran and caught her easily, spinning her around by her arm. She regarded him with wide, frightened eyes. "Let me go!"

"Sakura, right?"

"You're hurting my arm."

Sasuke relaxed his grip. "Where's Naruto?"

"Safe from you. You have no idea what you did to him."

"Actually, I do. And I want to apologize. Where can I find him?"

"Stay away from him. I kept telling him you were bad news but he insisted you were perfection made flesh. It hurts me that I was right, but I'm glad he sees you for what you are now." She stamped on his foot as hard as she could. When Sasuke merely stared down at her sandals with a frown, she did it again, then again, mashing his toes in his sneaker repeatedly.

Sasuke figured he was supposed to feel pain. The woman looked like she weighed all of ninety-five pounds dripping wet. He let go of her.

Sakura swept past him regally and entered Naruto's apartment with a set of keys she withdrew from her purse. Sasuke followed her.

She watered his plants. That was it. Sasuke trailed behind her, ignoring her pointed glares as he took in the rooms.

Things were missing. He had to figure Sakura usually came here during the day while he was at work. She'd probably taken things back to Naruto, who was likely staying at her place.

He left her alone and returned to his apartment to think. He decided he would give Naruto some time to get over his initial anger. When he came back to his apartment, Sasuke would be ready with a lengthy and sincere apology.

* * *

Except the man never came back. He waited three weeks. He finally followed Sakura back to her place in the Bronx and confronted her, only to learn he was too late. Naruto had left a week ago.

"To _where?_ " Sasuke shouted in shock. _"Kuwait!_ Why the hell would he go all the way out there?


	2. Chapter 2

When Naruto stepped out of the small airport Kuwait boasted and into one hundred and five degree weather, he wondered the same thing. The heat nearly buckled his knees, yet he saw people walking around as if it was nothing. Worse, it was after 8 pm. What in God's name would this place be like with the sun up?

He walked behind a Kuwaiti man who'd introduced himself as Bandar. Bandar was the son of the man Naruto was renting his apartment from. He'd been waiting for Naruto outside the terminal, Naruto's name spelled incorrectly on a white card he was holding. He took Naruto's cart holding his bags and proceeded to lead him out into the parking lot.

As expected, Naruto saw a lot of men wearing the long white robes, and women wearing the black robes. He also saw a lot of women wearing designer clothing, though, and lots of make-up. Bandar himself was a surprise, showing up with tight jeans and an even tighter t-shirt. Naruto noticed that, like the other casually dressed men, Bandar had on Pumas. Not one person had on the big clunky sneakers Americans seemed to prefer. Everything had to fit the body closely, it seemed.

Bandar stopped at a pristine white Land Cruiser and stowed Naruto's belongings. He went around to the passenger door and opened it for Naruto, flashing his brilliant white grin. Naruto got in, not sure if he was being hit on or not. He seemed to recall from what he'd read about Kuwaiti people that they were extremely charitable and courteous to guests, as were all Middle Easterners. Maybe he was just being polite. Bandar hopped in behind the wheel, started the engine, and a delicious blast of icy air washed out of the vents. Naruto gave his companion a closer look as Bandar launched into a small recital about Kuwaiti culture.

-oOo-

Kuwaitis tended to be somewhat tanned, with extremely dark hair and eyes. You had your really fair ones, along with a few very dark ones, but generally they were a warm complexion. Bandar was neither dark nor fair, but in between. A shade or two lighter than caramel. His hair was thicker than anything Naruto had seen on anyone except Sasuke, and gelled into standing straight up from his brow. It was longish, covering his ears and the nape of his neck. His eyes were lashed so richly as to be enviable to any woman in America. His nose was a little large, but perfectly proportionate to the rest of his face. A small, trim goatee completed the picture.

Naruto moved his eyes downward. Bandar was muscular. Not as beefy as Sasuke, since there was no fat on Bandar, but definitely around the vicinity of Sasuke's strength. Bandar was only an inch or two taller than Naruto, though. All in all, Bandar was one hot Arab, Naruto concluded.

"It's still Ramadan here, so everything is open very late," Bandar was saying. He sped along the wide highways at 160/kmh Naruto saw. He was glad his seatbelt was fastened. "If you don't want to sleep now, I can take you out. I will drive you while you are in Kuwait."

Naruto tensed as Bandar got right up on a slow-moving Nissan Sunny and flashed his high beams repeatedly. There had to be less than a foot of space between the rear end of the Nissan and the Land Cruiser's front bumper. The sunny inched over to the right, and Bandar stepped on the gas again. Naruto let out a breath. "Um. That sounds great, but I think I'll take tonight to settle in. Does everyone drive like that?" he asked when he saw a corvette weaving in and out of traffic at nearly double the speed Bandar was using.

Bandar laughed. It was a merry, carefree sound. "Yeah! Kuwaitis drive fast. Laws are for the expats only, if you have _Wasta._ " He glanced at Naruto with a smug look. "My family has too much _Wasta._ "

Naruto had read about _Wasta._ It could loosely be translated to mean influence or juice. It was basically who you knew, who your connections were. Since most Kuwaitis possessed it, most were exempt from such things as fines and the like. He tried to smile now, as Bandar did some weaving between cars himself.

* * *

The villa Bandar called home was in Adeliya. Kuwait was too small to have actual cities. Instead, it had areas. Adeliya was an area that was populated by the wealthy, very clean and sedate. Bandar pulled up under a carport alongside a Bentley coup, a Jaguar, and an actual, honest-to-god Astin Martin. Naruto gaped. He wasn't into cars, but even he could see that these were prime wheels. "Whose cars are these?" he asked as he climbed out.

"Ah… my father bought them. The Jaguar is mine. The Astin is my mother's and the Bentley is my father's. My brother is out now, and he has the Maserati. And my sister has the… _Ya halla, habibi!_ "

Bandar crossed the street to some man walking toward him, dressed in a robe. Naruto observed that they kissed each other's cheeks three times, alternating so that the left cheek received two kisses. They went on in Arabic for some time, until Naruto heard a timid voice at his elbow. "Sir? I take your bags, sir?"

A Filipino maid stood there, trying not to meet his eyes. As Naruto was answering that she could, an Indian man ran out of a side building annexed to the large three-story villa and shouted at her. The maid scurried back inside. The Indian turned and gave Naruto a smile. He introduced himself as Raju and took Naruto's bags around the side of the villa to a small hall. There was an elevator that took Naruto and Raju up to the third floor, which Naruto was subletting from Bandar's father. Raju deposited his bags in the tastefully furnished living room and proceeded to show him the master bedroom, kitchen, spare bedroom, balcony and second bathroom. He asked if Naruto needed anything. Naruto said no. Raju handed him a set of keys and bowed himself out. Naruto locked the door and turned to go through the rooms again.

-oOo-

Kuwait was proving to be very much as he'd read about, Naruto mused as he stretched out on the bed. Indians, Filipinos, Indonesians and other nationalities from that region of the world provided all the manual labor here. And there was obviously some sort of hierarchy within the domestic service of the household, much as there was within all Middle Eastern society. All men were most definitely _not_ equal here.

Naruto heard Bandar's voice as he came in downstairs and wondered where his father, Mr. Adel, was. Naruto could not pronounce their last name, known as their family name, for the life of him. _Bandar seems like a nice guy_ , Naruto thought sleepily. _A terror on the roads, though, my god._ His mind drifted to another good-looking brunette.

For the first time since running to Sakura, Naruto allowed his mind to settle fully and without deviation on thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke. Here, thirteen hours by plane from the scene of his callous disregard, Naruto felt removed enough to finally contemplate his reason for running.

It still hurt. A lot. It made breathing difficult and made blood pound in his head until his drowsiness was gone.

He truly loved Sasuke. Real love, the real thing. He knew Sasuke bit his nails, knew the man was a slob, and knew he liked food. He knew things about him, knew that he liked dark colors, and _La Factoria_ , that he bought Malta by the crate.

And he knew he was a lover without equal.

Naruto moaned miserably, turning over to bury his face in his pillow. That night refused to leave his mind, cropping up at the most inopportune moments to give him grief. Longing and shame tore him in opposite directions every time, and in the end he was always left hating Sasuke and loving him more.

He hated Sasuke for seeing him as less than nothing. As a whore. He hated him for thinking he had no self-respect, for making him feel as if he was desperate. He wanted Sasuke desperately, but he wasn't desperate. There was a difference.

But he loved him too. For making love to him so generously that night, so fully and completely and without reservation. Naruto firmly believed that if he wasn't trained in martial arts, he would have been killed there on his very own mattress from the force of Sasuke's lovemaking. Which made him shiver now in wretched lust. He twisted on his bed, his body pining for more of Sasuke. He had to cover his mouth with his hands as a scream came out of him.

There. Better.

If Sakura only knew that he'd picked Kuwait to run to because the only other option was to run right back to Sasuke, she'd have sicked that Ino creature on him. Naruto had been angry and hurt and all those things back when it had happened. But as the days wore on, all he could think of was going home and waiting for Sasuke to get off work. He would throw himself at Sasuke's beautiful feet and calmly beg to be ravished again. He would do it with as much dignity as possible, but the truth was that, despite everything, he still wanted Sasuke. Now more than ever.

But that was unacceptable. No matter how much he loved Sasuke and forgave him and still wanted the man, he would not allow himself to be used and treated like dirt. So he'd left. More to insure his own longing for Sasuke didn't betray him than because he was hurt over Sasuke's treatment. But Sakura, sweet soul, thought the pain was simply too much to bear and that he'd needed to distance himself from Sasuke's heartless presence.

He was allowed to stay two months before his visitor's visa was up. He would use the time to write, explore Kuwait, and possibly get to know Bandar better.

Then, when he got back to New York, he would see about moving. There was no possible way he could live next door to the man of his dreams while that man thought of him as a slut.

That was the plan, anyway. Who knew, maybe he'd come to like Kuwait.

* * *

Naruto got up to retrieve his phone. It was probably costing him a fortune to use service all the way on the other side of the world, but he couldn't be bothered with having it interrupted while he was away. He dialed Sakura's number.

"Hello? Naruto? Thank God!" She didn't even give him a chance to speak. "How was the flight? Did you get there safely? Do you have a working toilet in your place?"

Naruto laughed. "I'm fine. I told you this place is the most western Arab country out here, outside of Oman. I have a working toilet and a bidet. And the A/C is divine."

"I hope it is! I saw the weather was one hundred and twenty-one degrees today! How will you survive, Naruto?" Sakura sounded aggrieved.

Naruto looked around his spacious, sumptuous bedroom. "Gee, I don't know, sweetheart. I'll just have to try and do the best I can."

"Oh, Naruto!" Sakura cried. "To think you were forced to run from that bastard! You couldn't have picked someplace civilized? Well, at least he got what was coming to him."

This wasn't the first time Sakura had made vague references to Sasuke and some kind of revenge. "Sakura, you didn't do anything did you?" he asked for the tenth time. "Because if you did, I'd be really upset."

There was a small silence on the other end of the line. "Well… now that you're all the way over there, I can tell you that Ino and I did do something… but only because justice needed to be done!" Sakura finished in a rush.

Naruto stopped unpacking. " _What!_ What did you do?"

"I didn't do much, really. It was Ino. And then later her roommate. But we made sure Sasuke got the point. He'll never hurt you again," Sakura said righteously. "I won't let him."

"I can't believe you." Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose, debating on whether or not to ask if Sasuke was all right. He asked instead, "So this Ino. You didn't really tell me about her before I left. You and she a thing, or what?"

Sakura was diverted. Naruto remembered hitting some tall woman the night after he and Sasuke had been together, but his image of Ino was hazy. That whole twenty-four hour period after Sasuke was hazy. He let Sakura ramble on, happy to be distracted from Sasuke. When Sakura had finished telling him how her friend Hinata's cousin had been found dead, he decided that he'd run up his phone bill enough. He hung up and turned to inspect his balcony.

Cars were out, running along Damascus street, where the villa was located. He saw men gathering in front of homes, talking, enjoying themselves and the hot evening. He saw Bandar driving off in his Jag and looked up to see the moon less than half full, on the wane.

_What am I doing here,_ he thought sadly. _I'll never forget Sasuke._

Inspired, Naruto sat down with his laptop on the balcony and began outlining a swashbuckling tale of a man betrayed, yet nonetheless waiting for his prince to rescue him from a desert full of slave traders.

* * *

_Ya hala, Habibi ~_ Hello ...Habibi can mean my love, my dear, or in this case, something like dear friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke stood in Sakura's doorway, completely astounded. Kuwait was far, yes (he was reasonably certain that it was on the other side of the planet), but it wasn't just that. It was that he'd hurt Naruto enough to cause the man to move so far. It made him feel like throwing up, just as he had when-

Focus.

"When is he coming back?" Sasuke blocked Sakura from closing the door on him.

"I don't know," she sniffed.

"He must have said something… you have to be in contact with him some kind of way."

"I won't be sharing that information with _you._ " She leaned all her weight on the door, grunting as she tried to close it.

Sasuke kept his palm on the door, effectively holding it open as he thought. He needed to get in contact with Naruto. He'd tried to look the man's number up on the internet, but the spook had gotten there first, wiping Naruto's information from the entire World Wide Web. It was more imperative than ever that he apologize, but it looked like if he wanted to get to Naruto he'd have to get through the sprite and her miniature army first. He dropped his gaze down to where she was furiously trying to close her door. Honestly, the woman was less than his leg.

"Why do you hate me so much," he asked curiously.

Sakura gave up and flounced into her apartment. Sasuke was left to follow her, which he did, closing her door behind himself. He viewed the many frills, floral patterns, knickknacks and the abundance of the color pink. He shuddered. Spotting a pure white couch, he went and sat on it. Sakura busied herself with cleaning her already clean sitting room as she ranted.

"Because he's loved you so much, for so long, and all you've done is ignore him. Which made him ignore other people around him who loved him back. All he saw was you. And you," Sakura fumed as she pointed at him with her dust rag, "couldn't have cared less. He found you down and distraught and tried to help you. You took advantage of him. _That's_ why I hate you, you selfish pig!" She scrubbed mightily at a spotless end table.

"But, I'm _sorry_ ," Sasuke said plaintively. He didn't dare try to be charming or smile the smile that had driven female suspects to giving themselves up into his custody, but he did try to convey how sincere he was. "I honestly thought what we did that night was what he wanted. I never meant to hurt him."

Sakura looked at him. She was a compassionate and romantic soul by nature, and felt herself leaning towards believing him. "Why did you give him that money? Why did you make it seem like he was nothing but some street hooker with no feelings?"

Sasuke felt his face heating up. He looked down at his clasped hands. "I just thought… I don't know what I thought. I guess it was my way of apologizing for being such a prick. For fu- I mean for using him to make myself feel better. Even though I thought it was what he was offering, I felt… I don't know, guilty I guess? I wasn't thinking. It's no excuse. I just want to apologize to him and make sure he understands how sorry I am."

Sakura twisted the rag in her hands. She held his gaze and decided that he was sort of handsome. A little. But she wouldn't betray her friend. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but if he wanted you to know how to contact him, he'd contact you himself. He has your phone numbers memorized. He knows what precinct you work out of, and your squad car number and a bunch of other things. I won't go behind his back and give the person who hurt him so much access to him. He's healing. It's not just what you did so much as it is realizing you'll never see him as anything worth acknowledging. He needs time. He'll come back when he's ready. In the meantime, I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

Sasuke stood as she went to her door and held it open for him. He paused on the threshold, but could think of nothing to say.

* * *

He hit the street, got in his car, and drove down to the station. Sitting at his computer there, he cracked his knuckles.

Alrighty, then. If the sprite wouldn't help him then he would just have to find another way.

Time to take on the spook.

Sasuke typed rapidly, setting up computer searches. He also accessed the department's Identi-kit program. He began a composite sketch of the spook as he remembered him.

Sasuke had it figured out. Sakura had that dyke friend of hers. The dyke friend was the link to the spook. After all, the spook had put the gun to his head only after Sasuke had hit the dyke. And the spook had gone to the trouble of coming down to Sasuke's apartment to leave a note telling him to stop looking for him and the dyke, a stunt no doubt brought on by the dyke's missing wallet. It thereby followed that the dyke was someone important to the spook. To get to the spook, he'd have to get to the dyke.

And to do that, Sasuke planned on investigating Detective Yamanaka.

He was almost positive the man was the dyke's relative in some way. His age made it possible that he was even the dyke's father. No two people could look so alike without there being blood involved. As in blood relations. Sasuke jotted down the address for Yamanaka then hesitated. If he was the dyke's relative, there was probably no information on the net about him either. The spook would protect that bitch on all sides… but it couldn't hurt to check.

Surprisingly, there was quite a bit of information regarding Yamanaka. Sasuke scrolled through the files and discovered a missing person's case in the man's past regarding his family. Sasuke noted that the case was labeled inactive. He read the details avidly.

Seemed Yamanaka, his wife, and his two-year-old daughter had taken a vacation down south. They'd been visiting an amusement park down there when their daughter had gone missing. They'd looked for her, reported her, even moved down south temporarily to stay on top of the search. Nothing. No body, no ransom demands, just poof. Kid had disappeared. Ten years after it happened, they decided to try and move on with their lives. They'd come back to New York.

Sasuke was able to pull up information about the wife as well. Apparently she'd had several nervous breakdowns since her daughter had been abducted. Sasuke closed Detective Yamanaka's file and sat staring at the screen. He tapped the mouse idly, thinking of the name of the daughter that had mysteriously vanished.

Yamanaka Ino.

As in Nara Ino.

The photo in the detective's file had shown a grinning toddler with a mop of pale blonde hair and big turquoise eyes. A lot of changes had occurred, but Sasuke would bet his life that the toddler and the dyke were one and the same. And the names matched. If the dyke had been snatched at the age of two, then she had to have met up with the spook at some point after that. Where? And where had she gotten the name Nara?

Nara. Sasuke ran a search on that name, beginning in the last place the toddler had been seen. Almost immediately he hit a match. A couple had reported their seven-year-old son missing from the same amusement park. Couple's name had been Nara. There was no photo or, indeed, any information other than that. The file itself was gone.

_Bingo_ , Sasuke thought with grim pleasure. Those files had been erased, most likely by the spook. Going on pure gut instinct, Sasuke deduced that the only reason the spook would do that was because he was the son that had been abducted. His last name had to be Nara.

It required some thought. While he ran a search on Neji, Sasuke did just that.

Both kids had been abducted from the same location. It stood to reason that whoever had done the abducting probably used the amusement park to supply himself with victims. Private hunting grounds and such. Which meant the dyke and the spook had likely been plucked by the same person or persons. The dyke and the spook might have met at wherever their abductor had then taken them.

-oOo-

Sasuke closed out his searches when he was done. Armed with his printouts, he got in his squad car and drove to Queens. At the address listed for Neji, he strode up the flowered walkway, and rang the bell.

An ethereally beautiful woman with black hair and Neji's eyes opened the door. Sasuke flashed his badge. The woman recognized him, he could see. He tried not to blush at the videos Yamanaka must have shown her. "The police have already questioned us," she said before Sasuke could speak. "We know how he died. The case is closed."

"I know ma'am," Sasuke said. He used the tone of voice he did when dealing with grief-stricken witnesses. "I'm trying to find someone. This man." He held up the photo he'd printed.

The woman looked at it. "I've never seen him before."

Sasuke nodded at her, trying to gauge if she was lying. He wasn't even sure why he was questioning Neji's relatives about the spook, except that he had a gut feeling that there was some connection he was missing. He felt sure that if he could find this connection, he'd find the spook.

From Yamanaka's files, Sasuke learned that they'd looked up the numbers on Neji's phone. He knew the redhead Akimichi had shown him was named Gaara, but when Yamanaka had gone to Jersey to look up the address listed for that number, they'd run into issues with local police there. Apparently, the individuals who lived at that address were involved in another homicide. A sister was in jail, awaiting trial. Seeing as Neji's death had been ruled a suicide shortly afterward, they hadn't pursued the matter.

* * *

The drive to Jersey was made with Konohamaru that evening. His partner had called Sasuke, professing to be bored and in need of a diversion. At learning the progress Sasuke had made he'd begged to tag along. Konohamaru kept up a running stream of chatter during the ride, then suddenly became quiet. Sasuke looked over at him and found the kid staring at him. "What," he said.

"I don't get it," Konohamaru said with a frown.

"Get what?"

"Get you. Why are you going to all this trouble to find your neighbor? I mean you made a mistake. People do that all the time. Why are you so bent on apologizing? You just wasted a perfectly good day off trying to track down your neighbor's number, all so you can apologize for something that wasn't a big deal."

"Not a big deal? The man packed up and moved to Kuwait because of it. I was held at gun point for what you're saying wasn't a big deal."

"And you're going after the shit who held the gun," Konohamaru shot back. "Because you think you have leverage that will make him help you. Obsess much? What is _wrong_ with you? Who does all this just to apologize to someone they've spent a year ignoring?"

Sasuke clenched his hand on the steering wheel. How far _would_ he go to apologize? And since he was contemplating going to the other side of the globe to do just that, could his intentions really be summed up with such a benign word?

The truth was he missed his neighbor. He missed coming home from work, dog tired, and having his neighbor greet him in the hall. Without fail. Naruto had been as permanent a fixture in that hall as the lights were. He missed seeing him in the morning, jogging back to the apartment building as Sasuke left for work. Naruto had always waved jauntily on those morning run-ins. It galled Sasuke now to recall he'd never done more than pull away from the curb as quickly as possible. The man was a nuisance with his constant bids for Sasuke's attention, but now that he was gone, Sasuke really missed him.

He remembered wanting to fuck his neighbor again the very next night. He'd been waylaid the next day by the sprite and her posse. One thing had followed another until he realized he hadn't thought of the night he'd had sex with Naruto since it happened.

The few times Sasuke could remember topping, it had always been with some smooth-cheeked mouth-breather who'd demanded that Sasuke be rough. They took in his size and automatically assumed he fit the stereotype associated with it. It disgusted him to see that he'd gone and behaved exactly like said stereotype when he'd been with Naruto. That wasn't who he was. He could be gentle and considerate and affectionate. Instead, he'd cuffed Naruto to the bed and had satisfied his own lust. He hadn't even asked after Naruto's own pleasure. He really was a selfish pig, just as the sprite had accused.

He _had_ to apologize.

There was also the matter of Naruto loving him. The sprite brought this up time and again. Outside of Neji, no one had ever professed to love Sasuke. High school had been one long orgy of crushes, sex, parties and more sex, but no one had ever said they loved him. Except Neji. And that had been a lie.

Why did Naruto love him? Especially since he had never spoken to his neighbor beyond a few sentences that night? What did the man see in him? As he parked in front of a seedy apartment complex, Sasuke felt a thread of anxiety. He had to find Naruto and apologize before it was too late.

Before Naruto's feelings changed and Sasuke missed out completely on knowing what it was like to be loved.

* * *

He pounded on the door listed as Gaara's residence, but there was no answer. The super, when questioned, informed Sasuke that the boy had a habit of staying out late. Sasuke left and parked across the street, in almost the exact spot Neji had used when doing the exact same thing. Konohamaru went to the corner store to get Gogurts. When he came back, he handed Sasuke a bag. Sasuke looked in and found a small mountain of coffee cakes and three cans of Coke.

"They didn't have any Malta," his partner said sheepishly.

Four hours later, Sasuke was the only one awake when Gaara came jogging back to the building. Sasuke nudged Konohamaru as he got out of his vehicle.

They caught up to Gaara at the elevator. He looked at them curiously, then with some trepidation as they flashed their badges. They were off-duty, in casual clothes, but a cop was a cop to Gaara. Sasuke saw this and decided to go with the swift and direct approach. He held the picture of the spook close to Gaara's eyes, invading his personal space. "We're looking for this man. Do you know him?"

The recognition in Gaara's eyes wasn't even hidden. Sasuke felt a savage jump of accomplishment in his belly.

-oOo-

Earlier today, after Queens, he'd sent Konohamaru into Jim's Gym with a photo of the spook. "Look for a guy with a scar through his right eyebrow," Sasuke had said. "I made him as someone who'd respond to your type when I was in there last."

"My type?" Konohamaru had asked. In answer, Sasuke had only looked his partner up and down. Konohamaru had gotten the point: He was to locate some gay man with a scar who would take Konohamaru for family. "I really look gay?"

"No, but I saw him checking out the young ones in there. He seems to like the boyish type. You can act like it. Now, move."

Konohamaru had gone in and turned on the charm once he'd identified his mark. The man did indeed warm up to Konohamaru, saying of course he knew the spook. He was Ino's room mate, went by the name Shikamaru, or so they'd heard Ino refer to him as. The spook had paid them all not to answer questions if one big mean cop had come in, but seeing as it was only little ole Konohamaru, who had never heard of any big mean cop… The man had smiled at Konohamaru then.

The rookie cop, playing his part well, ducked his head and blushed. He allowed the big guy to rest a hand on his knee, squeezing suggestively. "What else can you tell me about Shikamaru?"

"Nothing, really," the big man shrugged. "He comes in here and watches our Ino sometimes. And sometimes some kid comes in here and watches _him._ "

"A kid?"

"Yeah. Red hair, weird tattoo. Say, you free for dinner some time?"

Konohamaru had come back to the car where Sasuke was sitting and fixed him with a glare. "You so fucking owe me for that."

"Any luck?"

"Plenty."

They'd found their connection.

-oOo-

And now, here he was, with Gaara's wide green eyes staring at Shikamaru's face.

"Is he in trouble?" Gaara asked nervously.

"I'll take that as a yes to my question," Sasuke said aggressively. "Where can I find him?"

When Gaara hesitated, Konohamaru stepped in, drawing the kid's focus on him. "We just need to ask him a few questions. No one's in trouble."

Gaara swallowed. He gave them an address that wasn't too far from where they were standing.

* * *

A tight smile stayed on Sasuke's lips as he pulled up to the rambling three-story house. Konohamaru clapped him on the shoulder. "You really are an excellent detective, you know. You should pass the exam with flying colors."

"One day I plan to," Sasuke quipped as he stalked into the open driveway, found a back door, and rapped on it smartly.

The spook himself answered. His eyes widened the tiniest bit at seeing Sasuke. "Nara Shikamaru?" Sasuke said pleasantly. "I believe I have an offer you might want to hear."

-oOo-

Konohamaru looked from Shikamaru to his partner. Sasuke gazed at his fingernails intently, waiting for an answer. Shikamaru stared at the information in the files Sasuke had handed him. They were all sitting around in the sparsely furnished living room. Finally Shikamaru picked up his head.

"All you've said is that you've found my roommate's father. You've yet to tell me why you're giving me this information."

Sasuke looked up and fixed an expression on his face that Konohamaru recognized as predatory. He realized that Sasuke expected Shikamaru to refuse to help him.

"I want your help finding my neighbor," Sasuke said.

"Okay."

Sasuke and Konohamaru blinked. "Okay?" Sasuke questioned in surprise. "That's it? You don't care why I want to find him or plan to try and stop me?"

Shikamaru pulled a strange phone out of his pocket as he answered. "I only approached you because my roommate asked me to. As far as I'm concerned, that job is done. What beef you have with your neighbor isn't my business and I couldn't care less. But finding her father…" Shikamaru paused as he read information he pulled up using the internet features on his phone. He looked up at Sasuke. "You don't know how much you've given her. I've been trying to find out Ino's true identity for years. If all you want in return is some info on some guy I've never met, I'll consider it a small way to repay you. Right now you could ask me for anything."

Sasuke caught the phone as Shikamaru tossed it to him. He read the data there, memorized it. Then he looked up, curious. "Anything?" He threw the phone back.

Shikamaru nodded. "Anything."

Sasuke considered it. "There's this detective's exam I keep failing, even though I know I've passed it each time I've taken it…"

Shikamaru needed no further info. He got to work on his phone.

* * *

A cab dropped Sasuke off at JFK airport a week later. Shikamaru had offered to obtain a first-class seat for him free of charge, as well as five-star hotel accommodations in Kuwait, and a chauffer driven BMW for the duration of his stay. Konohamaru had screamed at him to take the deal, but Sasuke had refused. "It's enough he found out that Deidara was doctoring my exams to fail me. I have a real shot at making detective now that he's been suspended."

He called his brother from the airport, after he'd checked in. Itachi admonished him to be safe, to not drink the water in Kuwait, and to wear lots of sunscreen.

"I will," Sasuke said. "Love you, bro." He hung up.

_"Qatar Airways, flight 804, now boarding from gate six,"_ A robotic female voice announced.

Sasuke grabbed his carry-on and stood nervously in line.


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks of Kuwait's indulgent lifestyle and Naruto was ready to go back home. There was very little to stimulate the mind in Kuwait. The country was populated with malls, stores and restaurants. The museum was small and ill-kept. The Kuwait Towers, a monument globally recognized, was boring as hell. The fountain outside of it was dried up and filthy, the food in the revolving ball stale and cheap, and the restaurant in the other ball over-priced. Next to no one was even in the towers visiting, and his panoramic view of the coast and buildings inland was obscured by dust and the dirty glass. The only things of interest in the towers were the pictures of the destruction to this same monument when Saddam had invaded, and the small souvenir shop.

Ramadan ended and was celebrated by everyone for three days. As the end of August approached, Naruto saw the streets and stores more crowded, locals having returned from their trips for summer vacation, and expats who were teachers returning to begin the new school year. Bandar himself had university coming up. He was studying to be an accountant.

Bandar was a good host, but entirely too exuberant about some things. Driving, for instance. Naruto learned that the Land Cruiser he'd been picked up in was kept for driving Bandar's grandparents around in. Bandar frequently rode Naruto around in his black Jag at breakneck speeds. He also liked to stay up all night smoking the big ornamental pipe filled with shisha at shisha bars. He smoked, spent lots of money on things he didn't need, and cruised the congested streets of Salmiya at night, with his Arabic music pounding through the sound system. And that was his life.

But he was always courteous to Naruto. Always ready to answer questions. Mr. Adel was a dignified man, who ran his household smoothly, his wife a gracious hostess. Bandar's sister was a beauty with thick dark hair, large black eyes and a curvy figure. She was usually out with her friends, or at work in her job with the ministry. Naruto learned that she was four years older than Bandar's twenty-two years.

Naruto knew that homosexuality was against Kuwait's religion, yet he saw many men holding hands. He asked Bandar about it one night as they were finally driving back home from Salmiya.

"Aha!" Bandar laughed. This sound was not one made as if over a discovery. It was just how Bandar laughed. "You think they are gay?"

"Are they?"

Bandar looked at the road, a small smile on his lips. He dragged on his cigarette then flicked it out the window. Naruto realized he was thinking.

"No," Bandar said after several minutes. "But I don't know how to call it. It's friendly here. Too much friendly. We have too much men loving men also, but we don't talk about it. The hands holding… this is nothing," Bandar said dismissively.

"So… there _is_ gay culture here?" Naruto asked with interest.

"Oof, too much! I can take you to someplace where there is too much gay men." Bandar said as if it was a done deal. Naruto knew that the use of the phrase 'too much' did not mean in excess of what was necessary when used by Arabs. It simply meant a lot. Just as the word 'nervous' to them meant angry.

"Oh, no. That's okay, I was just curious." He had no intentions of broadcasting his sexuality here. He had no idea what would happen, no matter how prevalent homosexuality was beneath the surface of this society.

-oOo-

Tonight they were going to a wedding. Bandar met Naruto downstairs, along with his father and grandfather, and found him wearing one of the robes for the first time. "Oh, so you do wear those robes," Naruto smiled. Naruto had been given one as well, since he didn't have a tux with him. He'd asked Bandar where he could buy a suit and the man had laughed for nearly an hour. Bandar hadn't said he'd be wearing a robe, too.

Bandar looked down at himself. "Eh?"

Naruto gestured at their clothing. "Robes?"

Bandar's expression cleared. "This is called a _dishdasha."_

Naruto mouthed the word, watching the way Bandar put on a small crocheted cap, a long white triangle of thin cloth, and a circle of braided black all on his head. He flipped the sides of the white triangle over his shoulders and took up a small bottle of oil. He put some on his inner wrists, rubbed them together, then lightly pat his head and chest with his scented hands. He handed the bottle to Naruto.

The oil was strong. Naruto coughed. "What is this stuff?"

" _Dehn al-Oud._ " Bandar held an incense holder that rolled out billowing puffs of smoke. He fanned the smoke onto himself, under his arms, over his clothes. He handed the holder to his father, who did the same thing, before holding the incense out to Naruto.

Naruto knew that this incense was called _bukhoor._ He guided the smoke onto himself, feeling strange; it was very different from just spritzing on cologne. Bandar had told him that the wedding they were going to was for one of the members of the ruling family of Kuwait. "A far member, but still important," Bandar had explained. Naruto translated this to mean a distant family member. He'd never seen Bandar so serious and composed. This wedding must be a big deal.

* * *

The wedding was held in a large pavilion-like tent. Plush carpets covered the ground. Air conditioning units kept the interior cool. There were small bulbs of light strung up in an intricate design. These lights formed a sort of tent of their own. Very low couches lined the walls inside. The strong Turkish coffee, and the lighter Arabic coffee were served in abundance in the tiny demitasse cups designed for this purpose.

Only men were present. The women were at another location with the bride, Bandar informed Naruto. Every few minutes, someone would arrive and all the men would stand and kiss the person three times, sometimes even four and five times if the acquaintance was well-known or particularly missed. There was music, with the duff, and the strange Kuwaiti dancing. _Dishdashas_ were held up for this.

-oOo-

A few hours later, Naruto excused himself to step outside. The air was hot, but the _dishdasha_ he had on was really a marvel. It was so light that he barely felt it on his body. Especially since all that was worn under it were an undershirt and a pair of extremely thin white cotton pants. These were loose and came to just below his knee. He didn't have on any of the head gear, and he'd seen his blond hair stared at on several occasions.

He'd needed to get out of the smoky air in there. He was sick of hearing nothing but Arabic, and when the men weren't dancing, which was most of the time, all they did was sit around and drink coffee and smoke. He had an open-ended plane ticket. Tomorrow he would see about booking a flight back home.

A loud bray sounded behind him. Naruto turned, walked around the side of the tent, and nearly screamed.

He'd seen the two camels and several goats tied some distance from the tent when he'd arrived, but hadn't paid it any mind. One of the camels was now being held down by several Indians as its throat was sliced open. " _Bismillah Allahu Akbar!_ " The creature kicked powerfully, then weakened, as it died.

Naruto looked around and covered his mouth. The other camel was down already, its skin being noisily ripped from it. The goats were being butchered right there as well. He saw a steaming pile of entrails to one side, noted how the dry sand seemed to soak up the blood thirstily. The smells were atrocious. Large aluminum pots big enough for Naruto to curl up in were being prepared. A huge twenty-five kilo bag of the Basmati rice Kuwaitis favored was being poured into another large pot.

"Oh god," Naruto felt his gorge rise and turned to run. He crashed into Bandar.

"Ah, you are here," Bandar said. "What happened?"

Naruto waved a hand frantically behind him. Bandar went to go see and laughed shrilly. "It's not funny," Naruto choked. He tried to breathe, tried to block the sounds of the camel being hacked apart.

Bandar came to him, still snickering. "You thought we would eat McDonald's?" He laughed again, following Naruto as he stumbled away. Naruto heard a grisly ripping sound and really came close to screaming again. Bandar bent over with him, peering into his face. "You don't look good," he said as his laughter faded. "Come. We will go."

Naruto gratefully slid into Bandar's car as he held the door for him. He barely noticed their speed either, as images of the camel kept surfacing in his mind. It was enough to turn a man into a vegan. "I can't believe all those poor animals were slaughtered right there…"

-oOo-

Bandar snorted, trying to hold in his laughter. He didn't want to offend his American friend. He seemed to be easily shocked. Like the first time they'd shared a meal. Bandar sat on the floor and ate from the single large dish with his hand, along with the rest of his family. They were traditional that way. It didn't mean they didn't know how to use forks and knives. Sometimes they ate at the dining table with all the silverware and china, but when it was just the family, eating the normal midday meal, they didn't bother with being formal like that. Naruto had been round-eyed with dismay at seeing them eat that way. He'd watched Bandar take a fistful of rice, squeeze it into a cylindrical shape, and thumb it into his mouth as if he'd done something obscene.

Naruto was very interesting, though. Very funny, definitely. Bandar had taken him dune buggying, and nearly died laughing at how slowly he drove. His friends had taunted Naruto, calling him an old lady. They'd tackled him playfully in the sand, but Naruto had proven to be quite strong. It came to light that Naruto knew martial arts, and Bandar had taken him to the Karate club to give a demonstration for the kids there.

The instructors were of various nationalities, all Arab, and all at varying degrees of expertise. All were extremely skilled, some studying their art for more than thirty years. Naruto had beaten them one by one, with ease, to the applause of the boys and girls watching.

His phone rang now. It was their house driver calling, he saw. Frowning, Bandar answered. " _Hala."_

-oOo- _  
_

Naruto heard the flurry of Arabic on the other end of the line, saw Bandar glance curiously at him, and waited to hear if there was some kind of problem. Bandar responded and hung up. "What's wrong," he asked, seeing the look on Bandar's face.

"Someone came for you."

Naruto sat up straighter. "What do you mean, someone came?"

"I don't know. Raju said a man came to the house and is waiting for you there."

"But no one knows I'm here except my friend Sakura. And even she doesn't have your address."

" _Wallah,_ I don't know," Bandar said seriously. "Raju said a taxi brought him, an airport taxi."

"What! Are you sure the person is there to see me?"

Bandar nodded. "Asked for you by your name, showed your picture."

_Who could it be?_ Naruto thought as he stared at the passing date palms.

* * *

They pulled up to the villa with Bandar's trademark squeal of tires. Naruto jerked forward against his seat belt, as usual, but he was busily glancing around. He didn't see anyone. He was about to ask Bandar if the person had left when he spotted him.

Sasuke was standing by the tall ornamental villa gate. He turned his head at seeing the Jag pull up, but since Bandar had tinted windows, it was doubtful that he could see Naruto. Naruto sat frozen in his seat, sure that he was dreaming.

Raju came hopping up and spoke to Bandar as he got out on the driver's side. He gestured to Sasuke. Bandar looked at Sasuke as he dragged on his cigarette, then came around and opened the door for Naruto. "Well?" he asked when Naruto stepped out nervously.

"I know him." Naruto's lips felt numb.

Bandar nodded. He walked with Naruto to the man, but the man said nothing to Naruto. He stared at Bandar. Bandar spoke rapidly to Raju, who then turned to Sasuke and led him around the side entrance toward Naruto's apartment. Alone with Naruto now, Bandar turned to him. He suddenly grinned. "You are scared?"

"No, of course not," Naruto tried to smile. "Just wish I knew why he's here. I mean…he didn't even say anything just now."

"He is your friend?"

"No, not really."

"But you know him."

"Yes."

"Very well?"

Naruto thought of the night he'd shared with Sasuke and felt his face going red. Bandar seemed not to understand the significance of this. "Don't be scared, okay? You can fight. And I am with you." By which he meant that he was a Kuwaiti with connections, not that he would fight with Naruto. "Let's see what he wants. You want I tell him to go, I tell him."

Naruto was barely listening as they entered the elevator. His mind turned ceaseless with possibilities, but he couldn't come up with a reason for Sasuke to be here. Bandar saw the serious look on his guest's face and tried to lighten the mood. He threw a mock punch that Naruto blocked without looking. The elevator shuddered disturbingly for a moment, as they froze. Bandar laughed first, which had Naruto trying to put the muscular man in a choke hold for scaring him like that. The elevator doors opened.

* * *

Sasuke saw the man and Naruto all over each other, playing, laughing, and felt his belly boil with jealousy. First he'd opened the car door for Naruto, now this. Naruto glanced up, saw him, and his laughter died away. Sasuke ran his eyes up and down his neighbor briefly, before turning all of his attention to the man straightening up next to him.

Five-ten, two hundred pounds, muscular, early twenties, black on black, _glorious_ hair, tanned complexion. This individual looked back and forth between Sasuke and Naruto, and extended his hand this time in greeting. He flashed a mouth full of blindingly white teeth, his eyes crinkling in welcome.

Sasuke hated him on sight.

But he took the warm hand and pumped it. He felt himself pulled by his hand, and the man was kissing the air by his cheek, first one, then the other, then the first one again. "Welcome," the man said in accented English. "I am Bandar."

Naruto was more or less recovered. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?" Sasuke was standing in front of his door, glaring at Bandar with an expression the man was too friendly to notice meant that if Sasuke had had his gun with him he'd be wearing a hole between his eyes. That's all he did, was stare at Bandar. He seemed not to hear Naruto at all.

Bandar answered for him as he became very serious. "He's here to give bad news, yes?" He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Why else would he come all the way from America?

Naruto shrugged. Sasuke was looking at Bandar's hand on his shoulder. "I don't know. Sasuke?" Sasuke dragged his eyes to Naruto's face. "What _are_ you doing here?"

Sasuke had to think a moment. He would get to this Bandar later. For now, he turned to Naruto. "I came to apologize."

Bandar and Naruto stared at him as if he'd gone insane. Sasuke's single bag was taken in, his black t-shirt, navy blue work pants. Then Bandar and Naruto looked at each other.

"Apologize?" Naruto asked.

"Yes."

"For…?"

"That night."

A few minutes of silence. Naruto knew Bandar was listening intently, trying to understand what could have happened. He couldn't really understand it himself. "You came all the way to Kuwait to apologize?" When Sasuke didn't answer, but only stared at him, he turned to Bandar. "I think I should talk to him… you know, alone," Naruto said quietly.

"Of course," Bandar said. "I will be downstairs."

Naruto nodded and watched him take the stairs back to the ground floor. He turned to his door and fished his keys out of his pocket, finally letting himself and Sasuke in. When the door was shut behind them, Naruto turned nervously and found Sasuke waiting.

Sasuke had come to apologize to him. All the way in Kuwait. Naruto felt such a sweeping sense of vindication that his knees grew weak. He held himself up by pressing his back against the door.

His prince had come to rescue him!

* * *

Translations: _Bismillah Allahu Akbar_ \- In the name of God, the greatest. Said before any meat intended for consumption is slaughtered.

_Wallah_ \- Literally means By god. Said here it means something like 'I swear to god'


	5. Chapter 5

 Watching Naruto enter and shut the door behind him, Sasuke realized he'd never really looked at the man before. Not seriously, not with attention to all the little details. The night he'd used him, he'd studied Naruto's face a few times, but he could barely remember it. Now he noticed the way the long white thing he was wearing swished around his legs and how his feet were clad in odd-looking sandals that separated the big toe from the rest of the toes. He saw that Naruto had a graceful way of moving that Sasuke associated with some sort of self-defense training.

Bullshit. He could ignore his feelings all he wanted by staring at Naruto, but it wouldn't change the fact that he was sporting a nice case of jealousy, or that he had no right to feel that way.

Naruto asked him if he'd like something to drink. He nodded. Naruto, obviously nervous from Sasuke's stare, disappeared for a few minutes to bring the drinks.

_Nice,_ Sasuke thought in disgust. _You haven't been here five minutes and already you're making him nervous. Don't screw this up, Uchiha._

He took a deep breath.

The flight had been long. Qatar Airways had individual screens for each passenger, with a wide selection of movies, games, music, and other entertainment to keep one occupied, but he'd spent all those hours happily imagining Naruto pining away for him. He'd cooked up a wonderful little fantasy of Naruto being sad and lonely, miserably longing for Sasuke. Sasuke, of course, would surprise him by coming to Kuwait and thus demonstrating that he wasn't as big a jerk as he'd made himself seem that night. Sasuke would apologize in flowery words (he'd practiced this apology in the bathroom on the plane) and then sweep Naruto off his feet. The fantasy invariably ended with Sasuke showing his neighbor what a considerate lover he could be.

He'd thought up countless different ways his meeting with Naruto could go, but in all of them Naruto had been wallowing in despair, desolate at Sasuke's treatment. He would be happy to see him, eager to receive his apology.

In all fairness, Sasuke felt he had a right to expect this. Sakura had painted just such a picture of her friend. Naruto had packed up and run away from Sasuke's 'abuse', as she called it, so it stood to reason that Naruto would be here prostrate with grief and hurt, and ripe for Sasuke's grand entrance.

To see Naruto being driven by a very good-looking man in a very expensive car had neatly popped Sasuke's bubble of cautious optimism. Bandar had opened that door for Naruto as if he'd done it many times. He'd seen the way Bandar stood close to Naruto, touched him… these were all gestures one made with someone they were intimate with. Men did not go around touching men unless attraction and sex were involved. Period. He should know, shouldn't he? Which meant Naruto had gotten over him pretty quick. He wasn't waiting for Sasuke to apologize, and probably wasn't in love with Sasuke anymore.

It hurt. The loss of his neighbor's affections hurt. He'd begun viewing Naruto's love as a precious gift, a very rare, exceedingly generous gift. He was willing to give it a shot, get to know the man, see where, or if, it could lead anywhere… maybe if he'd gotten here sooner he wouldn't be a day late and a dollar short.

_I still have to apologize,_ he thought grimly as Naruto came back in carrying a tray. He was reminded of his night with Naruto. It had begun with a tray then too… he was helpless not to wonder if this night would end the same way.

-oOo-

Naruto glanced up at Sasuke and smiled uncertainly. Sasuke ( _god_ how he'd missed the sight of him!) just stood there with his hands in his pockets, a brooding expression on his face. He straightened from bending to set the tray on the low table in front of the couches. Why did Sasuke look so unhappy? If he'd come all this way to apologize, that must mean he felt like he was wrong, right? And if he felt that way, why was he frowning so fiercely? Naruto wondered if he'd done something wrong. He didn't know what to say. He stood there, feeling increasingly self-conscious the longer Sasuke stared at him.

Sasuke wondered how to begin. He thought of his brother.

Itachi had demanded a full explanation for why his only brother was going off to Kuwait, a country Itachi had needed to look up the location of when Sasuke had told him. Sasuke had poured out the entire tale over dinner one evening. Itachi had been spellbound. He'd cursed Sasuke out himself when he'd heard about the money, but then he'd settled down and given some real advice. "Whatever you do, be honest with him. Tell him the whole ugly truth. Don't get over there and try to be coy or macho or any of that other shit, you hear me?"

"I hear you. I just wish I knew for sure that he'd accept my apology. Won't he think I'm pulling a one-eighty?" Sasuke had said. "Going from ignoring him to flying out there to see him?"

Itachi forked black beans and rice into his mouth, washed it down with Malta, and bit off a large hunk of buttered bread before he answered. He shared Sasuke's love of food. "That's why you're going to tell him the truth, without holding back. If he accepts, good. If not, well you tried. Pass me the _mojito._ "

But all Sasuke could think about now was Bandar. If he was going to be truthful, he had to say what was really on his mind, and he couldn't get past the way that gorgeous man had been all over Naruto. He cleared his throat.

"That man," he began. "Bandar?"

Naruto's face lit up at Sasuke speaking at last. "Yes? What about him?"

"Who is he?"

"The owner's son. He's been acting as my guide here in Kuwait… well, not so much since university started back up for him."

"Oh. He seems… very friendly. With you." _Damnit._ He hadn't meant to add that last part.

Naruto's brows drew together slightly. "He is… but then, all Kuwaitis are friendly. They're very social people."

"Really? So I guess it's natural for guys to open doors for other guys then?" _Fuck! That sounds like I'm attacking him._

Naruto's frown deepened as he apparently came to the same conclusion about Sasuke's words. "Well… the men are very touchy with each other here, but I think he did that because I wasn't feeling well earlier and because I'm his guest. Maybe he thought it was proper etiquette to open the door… he's done it before."

Sasuke forced himself to count to ten before answering. Forced himself to ask, "Are you sleeping with him?"

Naruto felt rocked. No other word for it. Rocked on his heels with shock. Sasuke was jealous! He had to cover his mouth with a hand to keep in his unmanly squeal of fierce joy. He shook his head. It was all he could manage.

Sasuke saw the hand Naruto had over his mouth, saw how his eyes went glassy and how his face turned red. Great. Now he'd made him cry by insulting him. He was unspeakably relieved that Naruto wasn't sleeping with Bandar, but he simply had to do better than this. He was screwing up everywhere and he hadn't even gotten to apologizing yet. He took a step toward Naruto, saw the blue eyes widen, and stopped. _This has to be the most awkward situation ever,_ he thought morosely.

Naruto saw that Sasuke was floundering. He watched as Sasuke scrubbed his wet hands down his pants, ran a hand through his hair… all actions telling of nerves. His own heart was knocking painfully in his chest. Sasuke was here to apologize and jealous of Bandar… a veritable dream come true. He would be remiss if he didn't contribute to this delicious drama. Finally lowering his hand from his mouth, he sat primly on the edge of one sofa. "Why did you want to know if I was sleeping with Bandar? You sound jealous."

Sasuke grunted at the candor. Was Naruto always this direct? He had no idea. He knew nothing about Naruto. Bearing Itachi's advice in mind, he responded in kind. "I am." He sat on the opposite sofa. The tray of… Sasuke had no name for the small things he saw, but assumed they were sweet by their smell… sat between them on the low white table.

"I see."

"No, you don't."

"Okay, I don't."

Sasuke raised his eyes to Naruto's and held them. "I came to apologize and I'm fucking it up spectacularly, but I didn't expect to see you all over some guy the second I stepped off the fucking plane."

Naruto, body quivering with the raw emotions Sasuke was displaying, attempted to be helpful. "Oh. What were you expecting?"

"I was expecting to find you as Sakura described you. Shattered with grief at my treatment of you. But you're obviously happy here, even if you aren't sleeping with Bandar, so that just goes to show how stupid I was to think-"

"You spoke to Sakura?"

Sasuke nodded. "She and her dyke friend came to my place a day or two after you and I… well, after that night. Went on and on about how I'd just about killed you with my behavior and insulted you and everything. Threw my money back in my face." Sasuke dropped his eyes briefly. "Naruto, I didn't know. I didn't know what I was doing, or that it would hurt you like that, or that you weren't offering me sex. I just thought… I didn't think." Then, deciding that he wasn't being completely truthful, he added, "I thought the money would kind of smooth over how barbaric I'd been with you."

"Barbaric?" Naruto could not recall any time in his life when he'd been so riveted. This was better than his wildest fantasies about Sasuke coming to sweep him off his feet.

"Yes. You know, the cuffs. The way I… I mean, how rough I was. I'm not usually like that."

Naruto's ass hole tightened in remembrance, feeling hot and achy. "I see. I thought your performance was well above average, myself…"

Sasuke stared. "You… enjoyed it?"

"Best night of my life. What happened after Sakura and Ino found you?"

Sasuke needed a few moments to get over his shock. Best night of his life? "I realized how badly I'd behaved. It helped that I wasn't still reeling from Neji anymore-"

"Neji? Not Hyuuga Neji?"

"You know him?"

"Sakura has a friend named Hinata who's-"

"-Neji's cousin," Sasuke finished. "I questioned her after Neji's death."

After that the entire tale came out. About how Sasuke had been used by Neji, to which Naruto expressed happiness at Neji's demise, and the events that led up to Naruto finding Sasuke throwing up in the vestibule. Naruto listened to how Sasuke had overturned Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey looking for him. Looking for Naruto so that he could apologize for his crass behavior.

"Apologizing meant that much to you?" Naruto asked in awe. "Or was it… something else?" After all, Sasuke _had_ been jealous, hadn't he?

Sasuke squirmed. "I had my eyes opened for me by Sakura, but after… afterwards, I just kept thinking about you. All the times you'd say hello and I would just ignore you. I couldn't understand what you wanted with me, you know? You were annoying and a pest, but when you were gone I missed it. I…" Sasuke ran a hand through his hair again. Sighed shortly. "I missed you."

"You-"

"I'm sorry, Naruto. For treating you like dirt, for not taking your feelings into consideration that night, for everything. I feel like that isn't enough-"

"Sasuke."

Sasuke stopped speaking. Naruto got up and came over to him, sat next to him. He put a hand on Sasuke's knee and Sasuke felt a jolt of something like electricity shoot up his back. He kept his eyes on Naruto's hand.

"It is enough, Sasuke. Now that I know what you were going through, I can hardly blame you for behaving the way you did. I think we all behave out of character when we're hurt; I certainly wouldn't be in Kuwait under any other circumstances. I'm so thankful you came all this way just for me… I still can't believe you had someone hack the information from my emails. It just proves how strongly you felt about apologizing, though. And someone who would go to those lengths can't be bad, can they? You're forgiven. If you want to know the truth, you were forgiven a few days after it happened."

Now Sasuke did look at him. "Then… why'd you run?"

It was Naruto's turn to squirm. He started to remove his hand from Sasuke's knee, but Sasuke grabbed it. Naruto felt paralyzed by this contact. Sasuke's hand felt very intimate, very warm, where it was closed around his fingers. He met Sasuke's eyes, found them intent on his face and blurted, "I had to run. If I hadn't I would have been begging for you to touch me again… and contrary to how my actions that night may have been perceived, I do have some pride… or I used to… whenever I'm around you, though…" He lowered his gaze, too mortified to continue. This conversation had stopped being exciting and interesting some time back. Now it was just frightening, fraught with raw confessions on both their parts. He felt himself shaking and prayed Sasuke didn't detect it.

Sasuke did feel the hand in his trembling. "Look at me."

Naruto shook his head. Oh god, he was tearing up! He tried to stand, and had a thick arm raised in front of him. He sat back down.

Sasuke reached his hand out tentatively and turned Naruto's chin so that he could look into those watery eyes. He wanted to ask if Naruto really loved him, but couldn't; he would be unable to respond with a similar confession. He wanted to kiss Naruto, but couldn't; it would be taking advantage of him again. He settled for brushing Naruto's tears away with one thumb. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I don't know what else to say."

"Why were you jealous of Bandar?" Naruto asked abruptly. His voice hiccupped in the middle of that so that Bandar's name came out high-pitched.

"I… don't know."

Another tear slipped free beneath Naruto's lashes. He stood up again, pulling his hand from Sasuke's.

Sasuke stood up too, almost hearing his brother scream at him for not being completely truthful. He spoke to Naruto's back. "I don't like the idea of you wanting someone else. I want you to want only me."

"Why?" Naruto spun around. "Why is that so important to you now? I don't need you patronizing me because of my feelings-"

"I'm not!" Sasuke swore, stricken. "But I can't help feeling jealous, or the fact that I missed you and wanted to fuck you again the very next night-"

"What?"

They both froze on that quiet word from Naruto. Sasuke wished he could just melt into a puddle of embarrassment. He did not just say that out loud. "I know, it sounds horrible, but-"

"The next night?" Naruto said, brushing Sasuke's words aside. "You mean before Sakura got to you?"

"Yes."

"So this isn't just about her making you feel guilty?"

Sasuke reeled himself in, trying to gain control of his thoughts. He was pissing all over this situation, making it worse. When he hadn't been dreaming about Naruto falling into his arms, he'd actually had a few truths brought home to him. He turned from Naruto now, giving him his back, so that he could think properly.

"What I did to you made me realize a few things," he began. "I didn't think about it right away, but the reason I wanted you the next night was because of how selflessly you gave yourself to me. I'm a needy kind of person. That's one of the things I realized. That I'm needy, and scornful of love because I need it so much. No one's ever loved me except my brother. I thought I'd found it with Neji, but that was all bullshit. And you… you want me. I need that in my life, need to be wanted. I need…" Sasuke hung his head. "I think I need you, Naruto. No, more than that. I _want_ you. I want your love and the way you obsess over me. I want all of it." He was shaking. Really shivering like a leaf where he stood. He covered his face with his palms, in total disbelief that he'd said all that.

A hand on his back. He jumped, but didn't bring his own hands down from his face. The hand moved over his shoulder as Naruto came around to stand in front of him. "Then you don't hate me?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "I never hated you." His voice as muffled by his hands.

"You ran from me hard enough."

"I guess I was too blind to really see you." He uncovered his face, found Naruto very close to him. "But when you were gone, I realized what I'd lost. Potentially lost, anyway."

"And you were willing to go to hell and back for me?"

"Something like that."

A silence descended. Sasuke stared into Naruto's eyes and felt a sinking, soaring sensation that was nothing whatsoever like what he'd felt for Neji. _I'm falling. Dios, I think I'm really falling this time and I won't be able to come back. Oh shit._ Who would have thought you could actually feel yourself fall in love? With someone you barely knew? Wasn't the falling a figurative thing? But Sasuke knew that in the coming years, he would always be able to look back and pinpoint the exact moment he'd fallen in love with Naruto. The real deal, without angst and corrosive passions that spiked out of control over the least little thing. There _was_ passion, and undoubtedly there would be at least some angst, but true love was acceptance. Acceptance of someone completely, so that you formed a bond that withstood everything, even the test of time and death.

Naruto saw it. He saw something light Sasuke's dark eyes, saw the way he stopped breathing for several seconds… then Sasuke was looking at him in such a way as to rob his own breath. The look said _Mine._ Naruto had been marked, owned, and possessed. He wasn't quite sure what had happened, only that he was sure Sasuke wouldn't run from him anymore. He gave a questioning smile.

Sasuke's teeth were white as he smiled back.

* * *

Later, they were nervous. After they stopped grinning at each other they didn't know what to do with themselves. They knew what they _wanted_ to do, but that somehow seemed impulsive and immature. They ended up sitting side by side on one of the sofas and trying to make conversation. Sasuke reached for one of the odd little sweets on the tray. "Why, uh… this is going to sound like I'm fishing, but why do you…" Sasuke grimaced, tried again. "I mean, what is it about me that…"

"Why am I in love with you?" Naruto asked with a laugh. Honestly, the man was so earnest it was adorable.

"Yeah, that." Sasuke discreetly spat the sweet into a tissue. He hated sweets. Unless it was one of Naruto's divine brownies… that had been followed by sex… _Not thinking about that._

"Well… I guess it's how hard you work, and how lonely you seem, and all your little quirks."

"What quirks?"

"Mmm," Naruto popped a sweet into his mouth, chewed, licked his lips of the sugar syrup the sweets were drowned in. "Like how you do everything so intensely. Even something ordinary, like eating."

"Oh." He watched the pink tongue lick another drop of sugar syrup away. "It's, uh…it's kind of hot in here, don't you think?"

"And how your Latin roots come out whenever you're riled up. Sometimes you speak in Spanish when you're pissed. I think that's funny."

Sasuke envisioned Naruto naked, sitting on his lap, neck thrown back for Sasuke's mouth. He blinked. "Naruto…"

"And sometimes I hear you singing to _La Factoria._ On your days off. I hear you screaming the words in Spanish, and it's so awful that I can't help but love you. I mean, who sings like that, at the top of their lungs? Especially when you're so quiet most of the time." Naruto licked his fingers clean one by one of the sticky syrup.

Sasuke felt his cock twitch, then swell along one thigh. He shifted on the couch. "Naruto, I-"

"Do you dance?" Naruto suddenly asked him. "While you're singing, I mean."

Sasuke moved closer to him on the couch, draping an arm on the back. He wasn't going to be able to be mature about this for too much longer. "Sometimes… Naruto?"

Since Sasuke was slowly leaning into to him, looking like he was going to devour him, Naruto had trouble answering. His heart was suddenly pounding. Sasuke wanted him, he could tell. The vibes he was putting out, the way he hadn't stopped looking at him since telling Naruto he wanted him… Naruto had never felt such a pull from anyone in his life. It was like Sasuke was sucking his very life force out of him, that's how much he wanted him. He'd had no idea that being the focus of Sasuke's attentions would be so… so… the only word he could come up with was hazardous. He positively reveled in the feeling. If Sasuke was a needy person, then Naruto could admit that he himself was the clingy type. He would shower Sasuke with an abundance of affection, smother him with love. They were a match made in heaven. Sasuke said his name again, and this time he answered. "Yes?"

"Would it be too soon for me to say I'm falling for you?"

"I-I don't think so." When had they started whispering? And god, Sasuke was barely an inch from his face…

"Would you believe me?"

_Considering the fact that you're putting out more heat than a furnace right now? Oh yeah. How did I get this lucky? Things never turn out this way in real life._ "It's not beyond the realm of possibility that I would."

"I don't suppose you'd care to… do more than talk tonight?" Sasuke let his nose graze Naruto's jaw.

"That…" Naruto swayed slightly, overcome with desire at the way Sasuke breathed humidly on his neck. "That would depend…"

"On?" There was no space between them now. Sasuke was all over Naruto, sniffing along his neck, holding him, speaking against his cheek.

"On whether you have the handcuffs or not."

Sasuke froze, his face in Naruto's neck. His voice was very low. "It could be that I was prudent enough to bring them… force of habit… used to carrying them and what not…"

Naruto chuckled quietly. Sasuke's hand splayed warmly against his back. His other hand dragged at the hem of his _dishdasha._ "I guess it would be too much to ask if you brought any lube or condoms too? Seeing as I have neither…"

"Well, one must be prepared when traveling to foreign countries..." He had the white thing up and off of Naruto. He went back for his throat.

Naruto giggled. "You don't really have those things?"

"In my carry-on."

"You are wicked, aren't you…" Naruto was quiet a moment, letting Sasuke nuzzle his flesh, letting the anticipation build in them both. He was perilously close to throwing himself at Sasuke and letting the man have his way with him, but not just yet.

Sasuke lifted his head to look at Naruto's slumberous eyes. "Tell me what you want."

Naruto did have one little wish. "Dance for me."

"What?" Sasuke pulled up short.

Naruto gave him a mischievous grin. "Dance for me… you asked what I want. You said you dance sometimes. Go on, I want to see."

Sasuke slid away from Naruto a bit, looking at him questioningly. Dance? He wasn't in the mood to dance. He thought Naruto had felt the same… He saw the gleam in Naruto's eyes and caught on. "Ah," he stammered. "I don't know how well I'd do at sexy dancing."

"You're sexy without even trying."

Well, what could he say to that?

-oOo-

He handed Naruto his iPod. He'd listened to countless love songs during the flight and kept the device in his pocket. Naruto selected a song at random. The opening strains of _Ahora Hay Otro en Mi Vida_ came on and Sasuke began to move. Awkwardly at first, but then he got into the music and Naruto nearly fainted.

Sasuke was much better at dancing than he was at singing. He had a minimalist way of dancing. Erotic. Mesmerizing. Naruto, who couldn't dance at all, knew enough to realize he was seeing Latin moves. There was some interesting footwork, some hip action. Sasuke undulated, moving his big body in time to the beat. It almost looked like he was walking, the way he danced. Sometimes he held his hands up to one side of his face and clapped slowly, also in time to the music.

Sasuke took his shirt off and began dancing toward Naruto.

Naruto sat stiffly, mouth dry with the pure lust Sasuke exuded. Who moved like that? My god, he was about to come right where he sat. Sasuke pulled him up and guided him around the table, already positioning his body against Naruto's so that the shorter man was forced to move when he moved.

"You're panting," Sasuke noted.

"You're the sexiest man I've ever seen in my life." Naruto was having trouble copying the tricky footwork. Sasuke kept Naruto's back pressed to his front. His rampant erection dug into the small of Naruto's back, branding him with more heat.

"I'm fat."

"You're hot."

"Getting old."

"Young and fresh."

"I'm moody."

"I prefer the term sensual."

"I get jealous."

"Possessive men are hot."

"Naruto…"

Naruto turned in Sasuke's arms as the song faded. They'd danced until they were on the other side of the living room, right in front of Naruto's open bedroom door. Naruto was sure Sasuke had maneuvered them to this point on purpose. "Stop giving me reasons to change my mind. I'm not going to. If you want me, I'm yours."

* * *

_Wow,_ Naruto thought. _So he doesn't just kiss like that when he's having a crisis._

 The incredibly carnal mouth that Naruto had spent the past month dreaming about kissed with all the power and passion he remembered and then some. There was no question of being demure now. Naruto may have been toying with Sasuke when he'd asked him to dance, but now play time was over. He wanted Sasuke too much to be coy anymore, anyway. He matched the greedy kiss with his own need.

Close as they were to the bedroom, they didn't actually make it to the bed. Not at first.

Sasuke dragged Naruto as he kissed him, and made his way to his luggage. He stopped the kiss only long enough to retrieve his bottle of lube from a pocket on his carry-on. Then he was kissing Naruto again.

They were very conscious of the only sound in the room being that of their busy mouths. Naruto's clothes were either ripped or pulled off of him, until he was naked. Sasuke was already nude. Naruto caught a glimpse of his bull cock, before he was turned around and bent over the back of the couch. Sasuke nudged his legs apart.

A large hand ran down his back, over his flank, then Naruto felt Sasuke's mouth on him. The warm lips nipped his ass cheeks, left hickies that made him arch and hum, but Sasuke kept a hand on his back, holding him down. A moment later his hole was sucked brutally and without warning, making Naruto's entire body go off like a rocket.

Sasuke continued to hold him down and hold him spread for the onslaught of his mouth and tongue. Naruto had to muffle his screams with a couch cushion. Dear lord. The way Sasuke ate his ass had his knees buckling… he was sliding off the back of the couch. All his joints were weak, come to think of it. His strength was being sucked right out through his ass hole. He finally collapsed, unable to support himself.

He would have fallen, if Sasuke hadn't lifted him and draped him completely over the back of the couch, as if he were a human blanket. Two hard fingers slid into him deeply, probed a moment, then withdrew. There was rustling behind him, a zipper pulled open somewhere, sounds of something being unwrapped. A rubbery _snap_ sound. A hiss from Sasuke. Barely conscious as Naruto was, he was able to discern that Sasuke was putting on one of those tight condoms. Apparently foreplay was done. He would have to teach the man the benefits of lengthy foreplay… though that dance had been quite adequate. He seemed to recall Sasuke saying that he didn't top often… Well, Naruto didn't top at all so Sasuke would have to learn.

Right before Sasuke impaled him, Naruto remembered just how much his size had hurt the last time. He came to his senses suddenly, rearing up to tell Sasuke to wait, but it was too late. Sasuke was already there, pushing him back down gently but insistently as he entered him. Like last time, he had to shove a few times to get himself in. Naruto relaxed his muscles, biting his lip, and then Sasuke popped past his sphincter. He slid in to his balls. Naruto tore at the couch with his hands and teeth, eyes screwed tightly shut. He bit the material in his mouth savagely, riding out the pain. Sasuke waited this time, rubbing Naruto's back, until he adjusted.

Sasuke cursed himself for not being patient enough. He didn't want this to go like last time. He made himself wait until Naruto was ready for him to continue. While he waited, he picked him up and carried him to the bedroom, still joined, and positioned them both so that they were face down on the mattress. Sasuke knew his weight was crushing Naruto, but when he tried to lean up on his hands, Naruto muttered, "Don't. Stay."

Naruto was in heaven. Sasuke's hot body covered him from head to toe, and his hot cock filled him to the point of bursting. He took several long moments to savor this feeling of completeness, closing his eyes. Sasuke's cheek rested on his own. They breathed in unison. Sasuke's cock throbbed and pulsed inside him in time to his heartbeat, also felt by Naruto.

Neither of them moved for a long time. They had the entire night, all the rest of their lives, to make love. For now, they took this time to appreciate the fact that they'd been gifted with something rare. They'd found love, found each other, found the one they'd each been searching for and were destined to be with. So few people achieved that in their lives, a fact they were both aware of. For now, it was enough just to be together. Their desire was still bright and hot, keeping Sasuke hard as a rock inside him, but it was good to enjoy these few moments of calm.

-oOo-

When they were each in a state of rest that was near sleep, Sasuke began a slow, firm humping motion. Naruto grunted at the rough slide of thick flesh inside him. He shifted, arched his ass toward Sasuke, moved in counterpoint. Sasuke got himself up on his palms, drew back, and just let loose.

Naruto's mouth drew down sharply in a silent snarl of painful pleasure. The headboard crashed against the concrete wall. At Naruto's hiss for the need to be quiet, Sasuke dragged him up and deposited him on the chaise lounge at the foot of the bed. Naruto knelt there, on all fours, while Sasuke rested one foot up on the lounge behind him. Naruto had to bite his lips as Sasuke adjusted his position; the minor movements his cock made as he balanced himself just made him want more. He wanted to feel that fat dick hammering him.

Sasuke held still as Naruto shoved his hips backward, fucking himself with Sasuke's cock. The blue eyes were half closed, the mouth open and wet as Naruto's tongue licked lasciviously around his lips. He wagged his tongue at Sasuke. "Takes two to tango, you know."

That was all the encouragement he needed. He grabbed Naruto's hips to steady them and picked up where he'd left off on the bed.

Naruto flung an arm up in time to keep his nose from breaking on the back of the lounge. He had to stiffen the arm as Sasuke gave it to him with extreme prejudice, or even so he would have crashed face first into the thing. He used his other arm to muffle his dying screams in the crook of his elbow. Maybe he shouldn't have encouraged Sasuke like that…

But this, exactly this, was what he'd been fantasizing about for the past few weeks. Sasuke here and screwing him senseless. Sasuke wanting him. He recalled Sasuke saying that he was falling for him, and knew it was true. He had everything he wanted, and he wasn't going to hold back, not one bit.

Sasuke barely heard Naruto's hoarse words of satisfaction. The blood pounded in his ears quite as fiercely as he pounded into Naruto. He forced himself to slow down until he was rocking out a slow rhythm, bringing them both back from the brink. Looking down where his cock was slipping out of Naruto, he sucked three fingers of his hand and slid them in with his cock. Naruto squealed out a curse, but reached behind himself to hold one cheek, spreading his ass wider for Sasuke. "Yessss," Naruto panted. "Stretch me wide open, Sasuke. More. _Give me more!_ "

He certainly is stretched wide, Sasuke thought. He squeezed another finger into the tight heat of Naruto's ass and moved his hand in opposition to what his cock was doing. Good thing he'd brought the lube in with him. He reached for it now and dumped half the bottle on the straining flesh around his cock and hand. Better. Whenever he slid his cock out, he pushed his hand in and vice versa. He went slowly, so Naruto wouldn't tear. He was able to fondle his own dick inside Naruto as well, doubling the pleasure for them both. He sighed and put his head back, losing himself to the heady sensations.

Wild, animalistic grunts, and curses of pure, undiluted lust echoed around the room from Naruto. Never had he felt anything so good, so _satisfying_ as Sasuke shredding his ass hole like this. "Harder," he begged. "Just do me as hard as you can, Sasuke, please. Just kill me with it."

No one had ever wanted him so much. Sasuke planted a soft kiss on Naruto's back as he placed both feet on the floor and widened his stance. He saw Naruto brace his hands against the back of the chaise lounge and knew he was ready.

It was exquisite. Just primitive and magnificent, and utterly stunning how good it felt to behave like an animal. No restraints. No thoughts. No anything but savage, beast-like copulation with someone you knew loved you to pieces and whom you loved in return. Naruto's body jerked in time to the heavy staccato tempo of Sasuke's lovemaking. His voice was gone, reduced to voiceless shrieks of agonized pleasure. Their labored breathing and the sharp slap of Sasuke's balls against Naruto's were the only sounds to be heard now. Once or twice Naruto sucked in air to sob out Sasuke's name or the name of God. A few times he let out a stream of curses in one breath. Sasuke, for his part, had all he could do to supply his lungs with enough oxygen to keep up his pace. He felt his orgasm gathering and tamped it down ruthlessly, wanting to ride Naruto until he couldn't stand.

Naruto was sure he would pass out. Black was encroaching on his vision, and his mind was going blank when he finally felt Sasuke flood his ass with heat. He felt each gush as if Sasuke had turned on a fire hose; he felt it dripping down his trembling legs and heard it landing on the floor in soft drops. He himself had come already, quite a few times. The chaise lounge had a nice large patch of sticky cum on it. He moaned as Sasuke backed out of him. He knew his hole was yawning wide open; cold air filled his ass in place of Sasuke's burning cock. He shivered.

Sasuke carried Naruto the few feet to the bed, causing another small flood of cum to spill out of him, this time down Sasuke's stomach. He plopped them both onto the firm mattress and threw the blanket over them. It felt marvelous to curl around Naruto's purring body. The air conditioned room made snuggling under the blanket sinfully comfortable. He didn't think he'd ever snuggled with someone he loved, and that was delicious too. Naruto kissed his arm where his head was pillowed on it and drifted to sleep right there beneath Sasuke's chin.

Maybe he had been willing to go to hell and back to get Naruto, but right now he was in heaven.

After some rest, some food, and maybe some more rest, he would see about making love again. He couldn't get enough of Naruto. And Naruto was holding on to him in his sleep as if he never meant to let go. He didn't anticipate refusal. After all, Sasuke _had_ brought the handcuffs. And he'd spotted an interesting hook high up on the living room wall that he thought would support Naruto's slight weight quite nicely.


End file.
